Indiana Jones and the lost Relic
by Serena Wronski
Summary: After last crusade, Indiana embarks on a quest he never imagined could happen...again. The Ark of the Covenant has been stolen. Now it is up to Indiana and a feisty 15 year old girl to get them back!
1. The New Kid

"Um, Professor.." Andi approached her teacher directly after class. She'd been trying to catch him for three days, but Dr. Jones always scampered out of the room too quickly to be caught by anyone. Andi was nearly positive it had to do with the numerous amounts of college girls gathered around his desk every morning before and after session. Not that Andi could blame him for leaving, but this was beginning to get frustrating. She was just becoming kind of pissy, to be totally honest.  
  
Professor Jones looked up for a moment, but quickly continued stuffing papers in his briefcase, "I, uh, I have a meeting with Professor .." He mumbled some name that Andi couldn't understand and most likely wasn't anyone's name at all.  
  
"No, no, no," She held up my hands defensively, "I really just need to talk to you about class. Well, not class," Andi relented honestly, "but archeology."  
  
He shot her an uneasy look but replied, "Alright. Follow me, but I'm warning you now, this could be dangerous." Andi raised her eyebrow skeptically. "I'm serious, come on."  
  
Andi ventured behind Professor Jones into the hallway where a hoard of students, mostly girls of course, flocked towards the duo. Andi let out a laugh, which became more of a shriek as one particularly aggressive girl pushed her backwards. Professor Jones definitely wasn't kidding. Relief flooded Andi's pained head when they finally reached the office door. "Take a seat," Dr Jones directed.  
  
Andi glanced around the unorthodox office. It must have previously been some kind of janitorial closet. Where most teachers would have a bookshelf, Professor Jones had a heater. She turned to her right and noticed a large metal rack filled with artifacts; broken vases, clay bowls and other random things. No chairs, other than the one Professor Jones was in, were in the room. So Andi grabbed the nearest thing to it. A bucket. Making herself as comfortable as possible, Andi looked up at Dr. Jones waiting face. "Ok." She began with a sigh, "I've heard stories and stuff about all the things you do, but I really am just wondering if archeology is really that exciting."  
  
Dr. Jones laughed, "Only for me, kid."  
  
"And.. Why's that?"  
  
"I guess you can say I do things a.. different way from everybody else." He responded with a grin.  
  
Andi wasn't finished though. "How so?"  
  
Professor Jones rolled his eyes, " I.." He waved his hands around, trying to convey a little hidden meaning.  
  
"Oh," Andi sighed in mock understanding, "you take other people's things."  
  
Dr Jones froze for a second. "Who are you?"  
  
"Andi Falit."  
  
"You know, If this is all you came in here to talk about, we-" he stared gruffly at Andi. "How old are you?"  
  
"Fifteen."  
  
Professor Jones leaned back in his chair. Why hadn't he noticed sooner, this girl wasn't in college, she was just a kid. "What are you doing here?"  
  
Andi grinned, "Have you ever heard of the Ark of the Covenant?"  
  
Author's note: don't worry; I know where I'm going with this. And yes, I do realize Indy has already found the ark. And yes, this IS after The Last Crusade. Read and review, I love the input, Indy fans! 


	2. Somewhere Not in Illinois

Author's oh so mighty and treasured notes- Hello.. I was not sure whether or not I was going to continue this fanfiction, but I promised myself that if I received one or more positive reviews, I would. Low and behold, I got one. So now, I have concluded that if I am presented with at least one review every chapter, I will right another chapter. So if you like, lemme' know, and if you don't I guess you can tell me anyway and I'll just send you nasty emails and stuff. No, not really. Reviews (good or bad) are greatly appreciated.  
  
Disclaimer- not mine  
  
Indiana jolted slightly upwards, but played it off as a shrug. "Well, I am an archeologist and in this field, you're an embarrassment if you haven't studied it at some point."  
  
Andi rolled her eyes, "No," she mused, "you know what I mean." Her words flowed in a calm and almost apathetic manner. No, not apathetic, behind her professional façade she was excited. Perhaps even beyond excited. To Indiana's trained eye, Andi seemed to glow in utter anticipation. An amused half smile yanked at the professor's face as he saw some of himself in this kid, but he kept his expressions as hard and blank as possible.  
  
"Look, Andi, was it?" she nodded, leaning forward anxiously. "I don't know what stories you've heard, but I can assure you that they're all lies." Indiana's previous encounter with the arc had not remained concealed, as had originally been intended to. Rumors flew and the true story morphed from what it truly had been into a sci-fi adventure.  
  
"Look, Indiana, is it?" Andi answered smartly. "I'm not some stupid little girl who's flouncing around and happy to get a few words of attention from her attractive professor."  
  
Indiana gave her a quizzical glance, eyebrows raised. That hadn't been his demeanor at all, but her outburst could be a cover up of some all too common feelings that emerged from many of his female students. "Hey, I didn't think you were. You know," he said, "you are the one who is bringing up the whole subject of this attractive teacher..."  
  
Andi's eyes narrowed at this notion, "Whom I don't find sexually appealing in any shape or form. What! You're old!" She concluded after another harsh glare.  
  
"Okay, okay, I get the point." Indiana held his palms up in retreat. Feisty thing, she was. "Like I was telling you before our little disagreement, whatever you've heard about the arc is most likely a lie." Although this statement was nearly the same as the one previously stated on the matter, it held no sarcasm and was now an honest answer.  
  
The young pupil was still not pleased, however.  
  
"Gee, thanks for all the input. Professor, listen to me, do you know where the arc is?"  
  
Indiana looked up at Andi. He slowly removed his glasses and massaged his forehead, recalling the day it had been take from his grasp. It was so vivid; Indiana had found it, defeated its defense mechanism, and he'd had it. For one fleeting day, it was in his possession. Of course he did turn it in, having been promised it would be in the custody of a museum. That it had been in a museums possession, but the museum was run by the government who, rather than displaying it, filched it from the world. He remembered watching them pack it up and felt the feelings of utter anguish and defeat seep up to the surface. He'd argued and threatened them, but there was nothing Indian could do, and the dirty thieves had known that. At last, he remembered Andi's question. "Yeah," he answered, "actually I do. It's shoved in an unmarked crate and tucked it away in a warehouse somewhere in Illinois."  
  
Andi was taken aback. It had been a shocking location for Indy, as well and he empathized with the girl's obviously disgusted feelings. But, again, he had misread Andi. "You mean you haven't been told?" she asked. Indiana's skeptical face and meaningless stuttering was answer enough. "Professor, the arc of the covenant has been stolen." 


	3. Castrolosgenious

Author's Notes: All right, I got another review and it spurred me on after, like two months. But I am a busy kid who is working on about 15 fan fictions (none of which I've posted) and then an actual novel...oh yeah, and that school thing...Anyway, I really like writing this fic. And I love comments, so review and let me know if you have any suggestions, criticisms and whatnot, etc.  
  
Disclaimer- George Lucas is cool and I like to think that, in my own way, I am too, Just not as cool as the big man. That's why he owns all this stuff and I don't.  
  
jd burns- thanks for the interest in this story. You were my first reviewer and I automatically loved you for that no matter what you had to say!  
  
Luminara1- Thank you mam' or sir! Its great to hear from you!  
  
Jas-TheMaddTexan- I will write more, I promise! Glad you're interested.  
  
Ebonezer- thanks for the info. It has sadly been a few months since I watched the movie. That's a good thing to know for further chapters but for now, I'm just going to say that Indiana said it was unmarked meaning no label amongst like a billion boxes. But I may go back and fix those first two chapters up later. I'm glad you like the whole smart-ass gig. I think she's awesome too, but I guess I didn't make the whole college thing too clear...she isn't in college; she just was attending the class to try to get a word with Indiana. But being a university, they really don't notice who every student is and why they are in or not in a class. Keep reading and reviewing, I love your input!  
  
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This time, Professor Jones didn't even attempt to shock hide his. He stared open mouthed and blankly at the floor between his feet. "Who took it?" He whispered, near inaudibly.  
  
"Would I be here if I knew that?" Andi asked. Realizing she wasn't receiving an answer, the girl continued, "Obviously you don't have a lead on this, so is it alright if I tell you what I know?"  
  
The Professor looked up but offered no response.  
  
"I'll take that as a yes." She said. "Here's the deal, the old man who new this box's whereabouts was found dead in his apartment last week. Doctors and crime scene guys checked it out, but said no foul play was involved, that the guy just died in his sleep, totally natural. Regularly, I'd say sure, nothing suspicious about that. But I have this gut feeling that it...well, wasn't natural."  
  
Finally, Indiana spoke. "If there was no sign of foul play or murder after an autopsy, where are you getting this from?" He asked in logical, professor mode, half expecting some wild shot in the dark. At the same time, however, this girl had surprised him with unknown information thus far, maybe she could continue to provide.  
  
"Glad to know you haven't gone mute on me," Andi mused, smiling facetiously. "Well, its just a theory, and kind of a shot in the dark..." Professor Jones laughed silently but at the same time was a little scared at the likeness of their thinking as he listened to the kid's hunch. "I was doing some research and came across this." Andi pulled a folded piece of paper from her back pocket, and tossed it onto the Professor's desk. He opened it and began to scan it silently. Meanwhile, Andi carried on. "Castrolosgenious. It's a recently developed poison, which only takes about a drop to kill a full-grown man. The drop is slipped into the person's ear and they're dead not two minutes later. The liquid dissolves into that person's blood stream and can't be detected, even with the most extensive testing. A certain group of people developed it and the people in that group are the only ones who have possession of the castrolosgenious. I'll give you two guesses of who they are."  
  
Indiana looked up from the article, "Nazis," he growled. "Always the Nazis."  
  
"Yeah, that was my thinking. I left a message with the secretary at-"  
  
"Wait." Indiana shushed her. He tore from his chair to the closed door, silently placing his ear against it. "Come on, we have to get out of here," he urgently said after a moment. Professor Jones ran to the window and Andi followed. Two men, in what Andi noted as extremely expensive suits, stood guard at a sleek, black car. "Damn," he snapped. The professor turned frantically around, going to the door again.  
  
Andi stood staring at the ceiling as if the answer would be written there. 'Stupid kid,' Indiana thought, 'she can't handle this pressure...you have to be able to think on your fee-"  
  
"Professor!" hissed Andi, motioning him toward her. "Where did you park this morning?" She moved quickly to the corner of the room, where she grabbed a lengthy piece of rope and tested it between her arms for strength. "It'll hold," she muttered.  
  
"Below the light-" Professor Jones stopped. He looked up to the ceiling where Andi had been staring and popped the vent covering out, sending it toppling to the floor.  
  
Andi looped the rope around her arm and met the professor beneath the air duct. "Ready?" Indiana said. Andi nodded, picking up the vent cover, she hopped atop the desk and hoisted herself through the opening. Professor Jones followed, having a little more trouble fitting in the small duct. As both Andi and Indiana settled themselves in the cozy little vent, Andi shoved the cover back in place.  
  
"This way," she said confidently. With as much stealth as possible, the two made there way through the entire ventilation system of the history building. Once, when Andi wasn't sure which way to go, she dropped her head into another professor's room. Fortune was with the duo, and the professor had not arrived for the morning yet. "Just out of curiosity," Andi whispered suddenly, "do you have a reason to be running from these guys?"  
  
Indiana grinned. "From what I heard outside my door back there, my old nazi friends were out there coming to visit. Let's just say every other run in with the Nazis hasn't been a little tea party. It never ends too great."  
  
"Ah, I see." Andi finally stopped at the end of one tunnel and looked out through the cracks of the duct covering. "This is it." She said, shoving the cover out of its place. Andi twisted around and gracefully eased herself out of the vent and onto her feet. Professor Jones, however, squirmed uncomfortable and rolled headfirst onto the rooftop this vent had leaded to.  
  
Without a word, both the professor and student ran to the edge of the roof. Andi stared at the light post that was nearly twenty feet away but the light at eye level. Halfway down the pole, a metal crossbar cast a shadow on a small blue Honda below. Andi unraveled the rope carefully and tied a sturdy lasso-style loop at the end of it. Indiana stared in disbelief yet wonder as Andi held tight to free end of the rope and heaved the loop expertly over the light on the pole. Indiana grabbed part of the rope with one hand and picked up Andi in his other arm. "If you drop me," she snapped, "I'm taking legal action."  
  
Indiana now took the expert role, and jumped gracefully from the building. The rope swung above the car for a moment, but the rope finally steadied. Andi looked down, seeing that there was about thirty-five feet of rope to climb below them, then a ten foot drop to Indiana's parked car. Andi took hold of the rope and motioned Indiana to climb down. After he had gone nearly five feet, Andi followed suit.  
  
For Indiana especially, the climbing was easy. He dropped to the car from twenty feet in the air as Andi still had forty to go. She tried to calm her fear of heights by taking the climb slowly. "Dort ist er!" A voice called. All her concentration vanished; Andi looked down to see a nazi and lost her grip. She fumbled for the rope, but it was no use; Andi was free falling 40 feet to greet a concrete parking lot and almost certain death.  
  
AN: Muhahahaha! Review if you want to see Andi live...or not live. BumbumBUM. All right, you've seeing my psycho side. Review...or not, whatever you want to do. But, the best reviewer will have a cameo appearance in the fic. I don't know if that is incentive or not but oh well! 


	4. The Other Dr Jones

Author's Notes: Alright, so it has been a little while. But on my behalf I have been very busy. It has finally been noted by one of my reviewers that I do have a lot of errors that go un-edited. Maybe I should get a beta reader... Oh well, now that it is Christmas Break I will have time to go back and fix all these things and maybe make a few chapter revisions. Keep your eyes peeled for updates! Anyways, thank you so much for all the reviews I appreciate them so much and they are always helpful and encouraging. It makes me want to post the whole story all at once.  
  
Indus Belethil- Hey, A review for every chapter! Thanks; you bumped my review count into the double digits. Anyway, glad you called me on the carpet about my errors and stuff, I probably would never get around to fixing it if people didn't get on me about that stuff. Huh, arc is spelled Ark... Its spelled both ways when referring to the religious artifact, but I looked on my movie case (which, duh, told me how to spell it in my fic) and there we have Ark! And on the 'leaded' thing, weird enough, that is the correct format. I took it to my English professor, and she said something about it being a past participle and that it truly was 'leaded'. Eh, I don't think it sounds right either....maybe I'll change it anyways! Thanks for the review! Please keep reading and reviewing, I love to hear from you. ; )  
  
Luminara1- Thanks for another review. It's good to hear from you. Thank you very much, I treasure that compliment, it makes me smile/giggle/do the happy dance! I was very much entertained by the 'I'm dying-like Andi' comment. That too made me laugh. Please keep reviewing! You make me a happy author who wants to write more.  
  
Stacey James- I'm glad you enjoy the story, because I enjoy writing it. Keep reading, it was great to hear from you and thanks for taking an interest.  
  
Ebonezer- thank you for letting me know. I really should pop that movie in soon, but its good to have you watching it for me right now! ; ) Its awesome how you notice the little details in movies. I do that too, and those mistakes drive me insane! Yes! You noticed that Shakespeare based poison! You and I are detail people and I adore that. I totally ripped that poison from Hamlet. I thought the word was fun; it just kind of sprung into my head. And it was real German! I was so proud of myself and I'm glad you brought it up. But the real question is, what does it mean... Keep reading and reviewing, I love hearing from you!  
  
Charmedobsessi12- thank you for reading and reviewing! I'm happy to hear that you like the story. I love Andi's character because Indy and her are so much alike, but you pick up their subtle differences (which by the way, will be hinted on later). I'll keep writing if you keep reviewing. ; )  
  
On with the Story!  
  
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Professor Jones stared helpless and in horror as Andi fell trough the air and suddenly stopped... motionless.  
  
Andi plummeted toward the parking lot. She couldn't scream, her breath had become a permanent lump in her throat. She looked down to her doom, but her eyes widened. Andi stretched her arms out to their full extent, and finally felt her hands grasp cold metal; the crossbar that had cast its shadow on Indiana's Honda. She hung motionless, concentrating every muscle in her body on hanging off that crossbar. She heard more voices behind her yelling in German. Taking a deep breath, she let go and dropped the remaining 20 feet. Shaken, but unharmed, Andi Sprinted to the passenger seat of the car and dove in. "Go!" She shouted at the aghast professor. He too, jumped into the car and fumbled his keys around before thrusting them in the ignition. His open door slammed shut as floored the gas and ripped through the courtyard of the school.  
  
"That was...exciting." Andi relented honestly.  
  
Indiana opened his mouth and made some noise, but it wasn't a comprehendible word. He tried to speak again, but to no avail. This time, he gulped and nodded, finding it the only thing he could do in the moment.  
  
"What's wrong?" Andi asked. "Aren't you used to this kind of thing."  
  
"Of course! But, I mean, you almost died back there. And...well...I...what would I have told your parents?"  
  
Andi pulled her seat belt calmly over her shoulder and clicked it into place. "You really wouldn't have had to say anything. I live with some rich, distant cousins that don't give a lick about me. I stay out of their way and am happy; they stay out of my way and are happy. It's a mutual agreement. My parents died when I was a baby, so I didn't know them or anything..." She offered, not wanting to make Indiana feel bad for her.  
  
He immediately reflected back to his own mother's death. "But don't you wish you had parents?" Indiana knew he had. Numerous times as a young boy when his father was stuck in his grail book. Sure, it was fun to run about and do as he wished without concern for punishment. But there was no denying, he would have loved someone to say to him, just once, "I love you, son." Henry Jones Senior did, in fact, love his son very much, and had been proud of Indiana. He just had no way to express those feelings, which left Indiana feeling quite alone.  
  
"I do ok on my own." Andi answered simply. She stared out the passenger window. "Where are we going by the way?"  
  
"Maybe we'll pick up a milkshake," he suggested, "but then I'm taking you home."  
  
"Actually," Andi pulled her shoulder length hair back into a high ponytail, "we should probably stop in at Robert and Flinnington Elementary School."  
  
"What?" The rich kid school, Indiana thought. What could be there?  
  
"Take a left here," she motioned to the next street. "Just trust me."  
  
Indiana shrugged. What did he have to lose? He turned briefly to make sure they weren't being followed, and made a left as Andi had suggested once he was positive the street was clear.  
  
Within a few moments, the little Honda was sitting empty in front of an elegant stone building. Indiana followed Andi up the buildings stairway and through a pair of glass doors. The long hallway ahead was lined with golden framed pictures of God knows who and every step the duo took echoed loudly enough for people in Singapore to hear. Andi turned abruptly into a small office. A woman sat in the single desk in the room. "Hello," Andi said to the women, "Are you Ms. Bouvet?"  
  
The woman nodded politely.  
  
"Its nice to finally meet you. My name is Andrea Falit. I believe we have spoken over the phone a few times." Andi smiled charmingly as she spoke. Indiana lifted an eyebrow in revelation. Andi was utterly shocking; she was so well mannered and calm. How could she be so nice when she wanted to be?  
  
"Oh yes," Ms. Bouvet now smiled genuinely. "Lovely to meet you, Andrea. Now, you called about our Enhanced program's professor, correct?  
  
"Correct," Andi replied sweetly. "Is he available right now?"  
  
"Yes. He is in room 125. That's strait down the hall and will be on your left."  
  
Andi turned with a grateful nod and excited. The woman stared suspiciously at Indiana's loose hanging tie and fedora topped head. "Uh, thanks," he mumble with a half grin and a shrug. He turned uneasily and followed Andi. "What was that?" He jogged to meet Andi.  
  
"What? Haven't you ever heard of manners?" She replied skeptically. "I'm, dead serious. They can really work to your advantage. Especially when with the snobbishly wealthy." Again, she stopped abruptly and Indiana nearly toppled over. "Ok. Room 125." She entered the classroom gracefully and a familiar voice rang through Indiana's ears.  
  
"And that makes that answer."  
  
"1.89," A preteen male called out.  
  
"Correct, Clark, but raise your hand next time" Dr. Henry Jones replied.  
  
Indiana's eyes narrowed and blinked dumbly for a moment. "Dad?" The mass of nearly 15 students turned to stare at Andi and Indiana. Dr. Jones' eyes were the last to be averted from the chalkboard at the front of the room.  
  
"Junio- Indiana." He corrected himself with an amused smile. "What a surprise." But the smile faded as his stare drifted to Indiana's untidy clothing. "You look terrible. What in the Lord's great name has happened to you? And who is the young lady with you. She looks a bit too young, son."  
  
"We had little..." Indiana grimaced, "a little scuffle with some old friends. This is Andrea Falit-" Andi reached past Indy and shook his father's hand.  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you Dr. Jones."  
  
A smiled tugged at the corner of Henry's mouth. "Likewise, Andrea."  
  
"Andi, if you please." She corrected. He nodded deeply in acknowledgement.  
  
"Like I was saying," Indiana continued, "This is Andi. Yeah, dad, she is too young. She's 15 and is a student of mine. Well, not a student, but she's come to my class a few times. And we're here because...well, I have no idea why we're here- actually I have no idea why you're here either."  
  
"I-" Henry began, but turned to the attentive audience of students throughout the room. "This will have to wait another 54 seconds until my class is dismissed."  
  
Indiana rolled his eyes. "Just let them go early. Dad, its only 50 seconds."  
  
"Do not insult me in that way. I won't let my class gallivant through theses halls two seconds early, let alone nearly a minute, just because I want to chat with my son." He stood in silence as Indiana motioned blankly. "I- It wasn't an insult, dad. I only mean-"  
  
"Hush," Henry snapped irritably as the bell chimed over the intercom. "Class dismissed. Have a good weekend." Indiana had almost forgotten it was Friday.  
  
All of the children filed slowly out of the classroom, talking with one another. As the final straggler hurried out the door, Henry smiled genuinely, seemingly forgetting the anger with his son and took a seat at his desk. "Now, sit, both of you." Indiana and Andi pulled two student desks forward and squeezed into the attached chairs. "What is it you wanted to know?"  
  
"I thought you were at the university. You've only been a professor there for over half my lifetime," Indiana leaned restlessly on the table of the desk.  
  
"That I have, Indiana." He emphasized the final word and Indiana grinned lightly in gratitude. "Things call for change, however. After our little adventure with the Grail a few months ago, I found it was time for a reevaluation of my life. With a lot of thought on it, I realized I wasn't getting anywhere with my college pupils. They were so uninspired and had lost their love and desire for knowledge, and I wanted to change that. So I decided to go back to the age where children begin to lose their knack for learning. With that, here I am; at an elementary school, teacher grades 5 through 8 as a professor of mathematics and theology. Intriguing isn't it? I think this has been one of my greatest revelations. That's my story, but what about you? You said you didn't know why you were here, yet you are. Can you explain this, young lady?" He asked and settled back into his chair.  
  
"I believe I can," replied Andi. "I'm not sure if your secretary has relayed the message, but I have called a few times seeking a conference with you. The Ark of the Covenant has been stolen. Indiana and I have conferred that it most likely was the Nazis who've gotten a hold on it, but I figured who better to come to than a Professor of theology."  
  
Henry did not seem quite as shocked as his son had, but all the same, he was surprised it had been found. Andi took this as a motion to continue, and explained the whole of the story in detail. Expounding on how she had come across the Castrolosgenious and the death of the worker in Indiana. He appeared intrigued and his brow furrowed as he began to open his desk drawer. "What did you say your full name was, Andi?"  
  
"Andrea Falit." She answered simply.  
  
Henry ripped a handgun from his desk hastily and pointed it at Andi's chest. "Dad!" Indiana shouted, as his father cocked the gun. 


	5. Where There's a Will, There's a Way

AN: All right, I'm back. And I am a dirty liar. I didn't do crap over winter break and for this, I apologize. Some day, I'll fix all my errors.....someday. A few of you have mentioned having trouble reviewing and that stinks. As shallow as it is, reviews keep me going. But I got two on chapter four so here we are, at chapter five. I also apologize for not letting unsigned reviewers review. Thanks to one of my reviewers (Beth Smith) I now have figured out how to accept anonymous reviews. HaPpInEsS is abundant.  
  
Disclaimer- As much as I want to own all this, I was taught at the ripe old age of 3 not to take what belongs to others. Stupid Morals.  
  
To the beloved reviewers:  
  
Luminara- Thanks for taking the time to email your review to me! It makes me feel very loved.....I think I feel a tear. Hehe. I have no idea what was wrong, but I tried to fix it and I have concluded that FF.net hates me. Read on to find out about Henry Jones.  
  
Arinya- I'm glad you are interested! First of all, thanks for the review, I really appreciate it. You asked, 'why didn't he grab Andi by the scruff of her neck and slam her up against the wall demanding how she knew about it?' You have a valid point that Indiana doesn't really have manners, but he also is not used to being confronted so aggressively by a woman, no less, a woman of 15 years. In one answer to your question, it would have been child abuse. But mostly, Indiana was utterly confused. He had no idea what to do in such a situation. I mean think about it, in all the Indiana Jones movies, how many 15 year old girls has he ran into? So there was my logic behind it. Keep reviewing, I like that you keep me on my toes!  
  
Bearr Jones- I'm so happy you read my story and I am also really sorry that I haven't updated soon. With summer approaching it should get easier to update. I promise!  
  
Psycho8- meep. Great noise, I use it a lot too! Thank you so very much. I really hope I can eventually finish this one.  
  
Ebonezer- I was really hoping you would review! Your reviews always get me in a writing mood. Ugh. I know: talk talk talk talk talk. That was pretty much the entirety of the last chapter! Sorry about that. I just thought something big HAD to happen in the end of the chapter. and I apologize in advance because this chapter will not have much action either. But please bare with me, more action is not far in the future! So please continue to be good inspiration! ;)

  
  
"Junior, your trust is won too easily. You see a pretty young face and can't keep your wits about you," Henry looked at his son as he spoke, but kept the gun pointed at Andi. "Did it even occur to you how such valuable information got into the hands of a fifteen year old? She's probably a nazi herself."  
  
Indiana rubbed his forehead anxiously, "O God, dad, please don't say she talks in her sleep."  
  
A quick slap ripped across Indiana's cheek and the hand was whipped around again for a backhand slap to the other. "One for blasphemy, and another for.....for the latter comment," said Henry.  
  
Indiana massaged both sides of his face. "You're being ridiculous you-"  
  
"Hello!" Andi interjected. "I am still here with a gun pointed at my chest. Please save the father-son quarrel for a later time. Maybe the accusation against me should be discussed with me. Can that be arranged? Maybe? Please?"  
  
The father and son looked guiltily at one another until Henry finally spoke, gun still in place. "Yes, well.....right then. How do you know that the Ark has been stolen? I was the only one informed of this except for an old friend of mine.  
  
"Mr. Brody, the museum owner. Yes, I know this much." Andi shrugged.  
  
"You knew?" Indiana tried to get out of the desk, but it took too much effort to squeeze out of the small chair. Instead, to illustrate his frustration, he slammed his fist down on the tabletop. "Dad, you knew? And you didn't tell me?"  
  
"Junior, I just found out two days ago. Marcus was supposed to tell you this afternoon. Now, stop acting like a child and hush." Henry turned back to Andi. "How did you know about Brody?"  
  
"There's a brief history behind it all." Andi sighed nervously, glancing at the revolver. "I've been greatly interested in your studies Dr. Jones. And yours as well, er, Dr. Jones." She added to Indiana. "So obviously, I had heard about the Ark's discovery, quickly followed by its disappearance, but I never meant to get involved in it. This was all an accident, really. My 'family' went to Illinois for a wine convention, a wine convention above all things," she said with no attempt to hide her disgust. "Anyway, it was in an area that had about 20 different warehouses all grouped together. The wine convention was held in an empty one, and being the underage individual I am, I resorted to wandering around, aimlessly, outside. While I was going past one of the rather large buildings, I noticed an open door and heard voices coming from within that warehouse. Naturally, I took a closer look. 'Its gone,' one of the voices said, 'inform Jones and the museum curator.' I knew they were probably talking about Brody as the museum curator, but I didn't know which Jones they were talking about, which is why I sought out both of you. When I was listening to the radio in my hotel room later that night, I heard about the dead warehouse worker. Then things began to slowly fall into place and we finally find ourselves here on this lovely afternoon."  
  
"That seems quite an acceptable answer." Dr. Jones tossed the revolver carelessly onto his desk. He took off his brown blazer and tossed it effortlessly onto a coat rack near his desk.  
  
Indiana shook his head. "Were you really planning to shoot her?"  
  
"Are you kidding?" Henry laughed as he picked up the gun once more. "The gun's a fake, Junior. It's essentially a paperweight, good for nothing else." He smiled and continued to chuckle a bit wryly. Actually, it works for threatening unsuspecting visitors as well." He winked at Andi and she smiled, a bit nervously.  
  
"Right." Indiana flopped his face into both hands as if he needed something to hold his head up. "So aside from the fact that I was not informed when the artifact that I found was stolen and a fifteen year old kid had to inform me and that my father waves a fake gun around his students and random strangers, this has been a fairly uneventful day. So what next?"  
  
"The solution would seem obvious." The elder Jones boy propped his chin upon his hands in the same way Indiana had. But the action somehow seemed much more dignified when Henry did it. "I would say we need to make a trip to Berlin, son." Indiana nodded grimly in agreement.  
  
"Berlin?" Andi thought the Joneses would know better than to jump on a boat to Berlin. "First of all that's way too obvious. Honestly, Dr. Jones," she said pointedly at Indiana, "if this were you, would you take it to Nazi central?" Not giving either man a chance to respond, Andi continued. "Secondly, the big man outside your office, he was wearing a suit that was made of a fine cotton, produced and woven in, and only in, Egypt."  
  
"You couldn't tell what kind of cotton his suit was made out of, he was at least twenty feet away," Indiana said.  
  
Andi let out a low and slightly annoyed sigh. "The tag was still on his blazer and it was hanging out of his collar. It clearly said 'Jumbonc', the company's name. My guess is that if the tag was still on, which was a major fashion faux pas by the way, he must have gotten a hold of this expensive piece fairly recently."  
  
"Good Girl." Jones Sr. shook his head and tapped his finger on his chin. "It makes sense, Junior!" He said, completely disregarding his son's desire to be simply Indiana. "I can't believe you never thought of it. One of the Nazis main planning locations has been in Africa throughout the entire war!"  
  
Indiana stole a glance at his watch. 3:45. "If we hurry, we can make a boat out of here by tonight. Probably not to Africa, but we can cross the ocean then head south by bus."  
  
"I'm coming." Andi stated.  
  
The Joneses cast each other a sidelong glance. "Andi," Professor Jones Sr. was choosing his words delicately as if Andi were a delicate piece of china on the verge of breaking and Dr. Jones was responsible for carrying her across the desert on a bumpy camel ride, "we really can not put you in the kind of danger this will involve. For your safety, you should probably just go home."

* * *

Andi tried to argue. She gave more details on her twisted 'family' life than either of these men could ever think to wonder about. They were sympathetic, but held their ground firmly, no matter what tactics of persuasion Andi tried. Once they had convinced Andi that their minds were set, they left her sitting dumbly in Dr. Jones' classroom and both went to Indiana's car. They were gone before she had a chance to really register what this meant. She would never see the fruits of all her hard investigative work. Even if she did, it wouldn't be the same, because Andi didn't get to be experiencing the action. The Rush. The love of being adventurous, but most of all, she would miss out on the amazing sense of freedom that came with it all.  
  
She paced the front of the empty room, thinking about all of the loss this brought. She should have known this would have happened! Why did she feel need to help them with this anyway? 'Because it was the right the to do,' she mentally lectured with a false air of calm. But her heart was screaming, raging with fury, in fact. In her frustration, Andi grabbed Dr. Jones brown blazer off the coat rack and flung it violently to the floor.  
  
Something in one of the coat pockets fell as it was hurtled toward the floor. The item clanged loudly on the linoleum tiles of the classroom. At first, the discarded something was of no interest to Andi. Then the light coming in from the window reflected off the article and shone straight into Andi's eyes. She couldn't ignore it any longer as she sauntered to the resting place of the fallen mystery object and bent over to pick up a set of car keys.  
  
If the Joneses had taken Indiana's car then Henry's car must still be... She suddenly laughed triumphantly. Any poor sole walking by would think her to be insane, but Andi didn't care. Where there was a will, there was a way. And Andi couldn't think anyone's desire could be stronger than hers. She had a will, and with that will would come a way to get to Egypt.   
  
AN: I promise on my life that there is action coming! And another chapter to be up soon! I swear by it. So please review if you are at all interested. I'm really feeling like this can actually go somewhere and I would love any feedback! 


	6. Mon Billet!

A/N: I feel very obliged to give my most sincere apology to all of the people who have ever read this story. You know what I hate? People who write just enough of a story that I can get really into it and then….. nothing. Not a single update until an absurd time like the next year. I am so sorry. I've become one of those people. But I'm here now. And the story should really get rolling now. Thanks to all the reviewers, I appreciate you so much! Below are individual "thank you"s and such.

But first:

Disclaimer: Never tested on animals. Contains no animal extracts.

Ebonezer: Ah my trusted and beloved critic! I always am waiting to see what blip you've caught at the end of every chapter. Glad to hear that you are enjoying the story. I believe I gave Indiana a Honda. You're probably right that it isn't time appropriate. I haven't checked. I think I'm just going to let this one slide for a while and then, when I'm feeling super productive, I'll go back a do some fixer up-ers. I certainly enjoy the long reviews. They validate my existence. Thanks again!

Rach: thanks for the review! The reviews, eventually, have gotten me to write and I'm uber grateful for your input. Keep reading, please. I hope you enjoy it.

Skylla Legorus: three reviews! I'm very grateful for the enthusiasm. It makes my characters feel loved. If you like Andi now, I have a hunch that you'll love her as the story progresses! Enjoy chapter 6.

Aarian Star: I love Andi's character. She's a lot of fun to write. I'm glad to hear that you like her too.

Indy: Thanks for the very high praise! I'd be glad to continue. Please keep reading.

Lightsabermaster: (I like the name) I promise you, if I drop every other story, I'll continue this one. Thanks for the review.

I-love-Azrael: Thank you very much! I'm not exactly a grammatical master, as is evident from my story, but I'm working on it, I promise. I'm glad you were able to see past that and enjoy the story.

Arinya: I've loved Dr. Jones Sr. since I was about 5 or 6 years old. I'm relieved to hear that I'm at least doing him some justice. On Andi's speaking habits- I must say that, in a way, I'm flattered that you thing she speaks above what is appropriate for a fifteen year old. I assure you, however, that fifteen year olds can, and do, I might add, talk like this. While it may be a rarity, it happens. I was, in fact, fifteen the last time I wrote on this story. So it is accurate for Andi's character, this I am absolutely positive of. In Andi's defense as well, I tell you that she's attended an expensive private school, compliments of her 'family' for ten years.

FreeTrader: It's finally here. Hope I don't let ya down!

Woo. Now that those are finished- on with the show!

* * *

Chapter Six:

**"Mon Billet!"**

Andi sat, with Dr. Jones' keys in the ignition. She paused, foot poised above the gas pedal in anticipation. "I've never driven before," she mentally reminded herself. But it was a very brief pause. An ecstatic smile spread across her face as the reality set in. "I've never driven before!" She said aloud this time and laughed triumphantly, letting her foot ease against the gas and off the clutch as she put the car into gear. Andi hadn't figured out how to put the car into reverse. Lucky for her, though, the car was parked in a space that didn't require any backing. She could drive straight through the courtyard and on the street with no problems.

As the gasoline began to power the car, it lurched forward and bounced over the curb as planned. "This isn't so hard." She mused to herself. "See? No problems." Andi knew she was only speaking to calm her own nerves. But it made her feel better to hear a voice, even if it was her own, tell her that she was doing a good job.

"HEY!" That wasn't her voice, though. Problem. Andi stuck her head out the open window. The secretary was running, however wobbly in high heels, at Professor Jones' car. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Andi couldn't help but find the sight of this uppity secretary running, no, waddling through the parking lot to be funny. She smiled and gave the frazzled woman a little wave before she lifted her foot off the clutch again and laid the other on the gas.

The car gave a lurch and died. Andi restarted the car and got it moving, a bit more carefully this time. "Wow!" The car pummeled through the grass. Andi swerved sharply around a large marble statue and found the car bouncing onto the concrete of the street. She let out the breath she'd been holding for the past minute or so. Andi was well aware that the police had probably been informed of her thievery. She also knew that there was a very likely chance that she may not even get to the port on time and that she didn't have any clothes or even a toothbrush. But in the moment of speeding along side streets, Andi couldn't bring herself to worry about any of these things. The adrenaline pulsed through Andi's veins so strongly that she felt like she could burst. Instead of exploding, however, Andi contained the energy; channeling it all down into a glowing smile.

By the time Andi had reached the port, the sun had almost completely dropped below the horizon. Andi hastily parked the car diagonally across two parking spaces and jumped out, marking sure the door was locked behind her. She looked back at her parking job, considering it only briefly. The lines were only guidelines anyway. She hastily turned toward the harbor. There was only one passenger barge docked which, Andi assumed, was the boat she needed to be on.

Thus arose another problem. She didn't have a ticket nor did she have any money with her to buy one. Andi groaned, plopping down on the curb. 'There has to be a way,' she thought as she stared up at the humongous ship. Crates and trunks were being hoisted up to one of three decks by pulleys near the rear of the boat. Andi watched a box rise slowly from the wooden dock and up to the magnificent ship where it was heaved and pushed onto one of many decks. She sighed as she rose, joining the torrents of people saying goodbye to loved ones and gathering their luggage. Andi felt helpless. She stared longingly at the boat a final time. The crew workers continued hoisting cargo up. One young man tossed his jacket and hat aside as he worked, obviously sweating from exerting so much energy. Still another stood on top of one of the crates, holding it steady as it rose into the air. He hopped off the crate as it was lowered onto the boat, and lazed around the dock without a question asked.

That was it! Andi immediately jumped into action. She hurriedly pushed through the crowd of people. She didn't even stop to apologize when she nearly sent a man toppling into the ocean. He caught his balance, however, but his bag went careening off the dock and into the water. She heard angry words being shouted at her in French, but Andi was far too determined to take any notice. Her heart raced as she reached the loading dock. Luckily, Andi thought as she discreetly put on the discarded hat and jacket of the worker, she'd opted to wear pants today. She tucked her hair into her shirt and hoped the jacket would hide any womanly… features.

As casually as possible, Andi hopped up on top of the next box and began busying herself securing knots and hooks. She didn't look up at the other worker but simply gestured 'up' with her hand when she felt she was steadied enough on the box. The thing rose with a sudden lurch, meriting a high-pitched yelp from Andi, but she caught her balance and was soon hopping off the box and triumphantly into the ship's deck. Very casually, Andi sidled aside, into a nearby corner. She tossed the hat down and was just unbuttoning the jacket as she heard a rather heated argument from the loading deck below. Andi dropped the jacket with her hat and stepped over to the railing to see what was going on. The ticket taker was fiercely standing his ground as someone in front of him, Andi couldn't see whom, was clearly very upset. She shifted around to get a better view of an oddly familiar angry man yelling "Mon Billet, mon billet!" as he pointed at something in the water.

The ticket taker didn't bother to look at what the man was gesturing toward; he simply said, "No – ticket – no – boat- ride," stressing each syllable as if it would make the man understand English. Andi craned her neck to see what the man had been pointing at. There seemed to be a leather bag, half drifting and half floating, further and further into the ocean. As she watched it for a few moments, the memory of the bag she'd knocked into the water flashed through her brain and she suddenly realized why the angry Frenchman was familiar. "Oh man," Andi clenched her eyes shut.

"Papa! Avance, Papa!" A weeping little voice shouted. Andi turned to see two little girls crying as their mother stared helplessly down at the man.

Now the guilt really attacked. Andi had to do something. She glanced again at the family. They had no doubt been saving all of their money to return to Europe. She looked around, hoping for a stroke of brilliance again. Her mind seemed to be on fire today, because her eyes settled on a kind looking man not ten feet away. "Excuse," she called, walking in his direction, "Sir, excuse me sir, but could I please just borrow your ticket for one moment? You see, I seemed to have left my sister's favorite stuffed animal in the car and I can't find my ticket anywhere. Please? It's an emergency."

He looked on Andi with an amused chuckle. "Of course, young lady, if it's an emergency." He handed her the ticket and turned back to his previous conversation. As soon as she was positive that he wasn't going to turn around again, Andi sprinted to the ramp leading to the loading deck. She met the ticket taker just as he was ready to give the 'ready to go' signal to the captain. "Mon papa!" she explained to the ticket taker as she held up the ticket.

The ticket taker snatched it away and read the name printed on it. "Jack Smith?" he read aloud.

Andi attempted to look innocent. Then she said the only thing from French class that stuck out in her mind at that moment: "Je suis un anana et je parle." In English, it meant something along the lines of 'I am a Pineapple and I talk,' and had come from an old radio show the students listened to in class featuring a talking pineapple.

But the ticket taker didn't seem know French and thus alleviated the problem. He reluctantly handed the Frenchman his 'ticket' and motioned them both through. Once on the boat, the Frenchman looked at Andi in confusion (most likely pertaining to the pineapple thing) but also in deep gratitude. "Merci," he said, studying her face briefly before turning to his family.

Finally, Andi could relax and have a lovely boat ride to Europe. Or so she thought. Ten minutes later, as she was strolling down a corridor, looking for the dining room, she noticed the sound of footsteps consistently behind her in the hallway. They stopped whenever she stopped, sped up when she did, and slowed whenever Andi slowed. She didn't dare turn around. Andi had just reached the end of one hallway that branched into two other halls, like a 'T', when she burst into a sprit down one of them. The follower was surprised at first and then started sprinting as well. She had a big enough lead to throw open a janitorial closet door and jump inside it. Very quickly, Andi deduced that this might not have been the best idea. There was no doubt that the attacker had seen her dive into this hiding space. And took a mop handle in her hands and held it poised, ready to attack what was most likely boat personnel ready to end the adventure.

She waited silently, anxiously, as the footsteps neared the door. Andi was ready for a brawl between her mop handle and the follower. But Andi would never swing the mop at anyone. Little did she know, the follower approached with a much bigger bone to pick that a lack of ticket. His footsteps stopped just outside the door. Very slowly, the door began to open and now, Andi was helpless.

* * *

Author's notes: Sheesh. This chapter has taken a year. Not even exaggerating. I promise, they'll come faster after this. We're getting through the meat and potatoes of this, but have no fear, desert is short to follow. 


	7. On the Road, Part I: Beat that, Jones

Author's Notes: I'll keep it short. I know Andi and crew are the interesting ones here. Well, the wait isn't nearly as bad as last time. I've had a lot of insight on this lately so I'm hoping it will be picked up a notch. These next two chapters are kind of a series. It was going to be one long chapter, but I felt like it dragged so I split it up into On the Road, Parts I and II. Reviewers: you guys are awesome! On with the show!

Disclaimer: Wash out of clothing immediately.

Reviewers:

**Sweet A.K**: That is my very favorite French phrase! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. You know my writing well. I guess the 'man chasing Andi' was a little bit predictable… Thanks for the review!

**Et-spiritus-sancti**: Your pen name is 'soulful' as my friend would say. I like it very much. I'm so glad you enjoyed this chapter. I was worried it wouldn't live up to expectations. Methinks you may be correct about Dr. Jones…. Thanks for your interest!

**I-love-Azrael**: I could never EVER forget this story! And I love you guys. Without you there is no one to read my story. I do believe my story would cease to exist if I didn't have you readers.

**Luna Adura/ Skylla Legoras**: Yes, I f i n a l l y updated… and it only took me a year. Tehe. I won't leave you another year with my nasty cliffhangers! I'm glad you're enjoying this,

Keep reading!

**Rach**: Thank you for your oh so kind comments. I'm really enjoying this writing process so I assure you of future updates. Thanks for the notice!

**I'dratherbe…:** on a beach in Cabo! You're too kind, but I am so glad that I've caught your attention. Thank you so much for reviewing, it validates my existence!

**Lightsabermaster**: I enjoyed writing this chapter so much. It's really great to see the positive response that you are giving it. The chapters are coming. After all, it's summer, and what else am I going to do to entertain myself? ; )

**Maya Beebop**: I'm really glad you enjoy the whole 15-year-old gig. I really think Andi will find ways to bring out the child in our favorite archaeologist. Action and plot are wonderful and, no matter what, I assure you of a lot of it!

**Sharpshooter one two five**: I'm so glad you like the story! Please, do write one! I'd love to read it. Pointers? Of course! Character development and (specifically in fanfiction) characterization is the single most important thing in a story. If you have a good plot with characters and dialogue that doesn't seem honest or realistic then there is no way to get readers invested. Even if the plot is weak, when a story has characters that people can relate to and that are endearing or just realistic, readers are drawn to it. If you can manage to have a good plot and ace the character relationships/characterization then My god! I think I love you. : ) With Indiana Jones, specifically, it's important to develop a plot that doesn't seem contrived. Good luck and have fun with the story!

Enough talk.

Chapter 7:

On The Road, Part I: "Beat that, Jones" 

……………………………………………………………………………………………

As the door crept open and light began to filter through the widening gap, Andi readied herself to attack by raising the mop above her head. She launched into a full force swing that ended two inches away from where it began before the mop would not move any further. Dazed, she looked above to see the mop head caught on a bolt in the wall.

"I told you not to come," growled Indiana Jones.

Andi had almost forgotten about her 'attacker'. She looked to him, silhouetted in the light of the open door, glaring down on her. Andi let go of the mop and it hung limply from the bolt, lightly swaying back and forth. "No you didn't," she protested eagerly. "You told me that I couldn't come _with_ you. You never said that I couldn't come by myself."

Indiana opened his mouth, a look of fury mixed with confusion lighting his face. His jaw clamped shut again before he finally decided on what to say. "You knew exactly what I meant."

Andi bit her lip. He was right, of course. "So what?" she retorted after a few moments. "You wouldn't even be on this boat if it weren't for me. You'd be sitting in your lousy excuse for an office grading papers right now."

"Hey, don't get smart with me," Indiana's voice grew a little louder. "You heard my dad. He was planning on telling about the Ark and Grail."

"Oh yeah?"

Indiana cocked his eyebrow. "Yeah," he said with an air of finality. There. That would shut her up.

The mop head must have slipped off the bolt because, at the very moment Indiana turned to walk away, it fell and struck Andi right on her temple. Along with the mop smacking her in the head, so did a memory of earlier in the day. "Hey… HEY!" She clambered over an empty bucket and a broom to follow Indiana into the hallway. He reluctantly stopped and turned to face her. "Even if you and your father had managed to find out about the old man and the Castrolosgenious, which is highly unlikely, by the way, without me you'd still be on your way to Germany. Ha! Beat that, Jones."

He couldn't. Andi knew it, Indiana knew it, and so did the by standing mop. "That's _Dr. _Jones to you, kid." With that, Indiana turned on his heel and strode down the hallway.

Andi smirked and jogged forward to fall into step with him. She'd won, this much was obvious, but Andi couldn't resist the temptation to gloat a little. "Does that mean I can stay?"

She could have sworn that beneath the shadow of Indiana's brown fedora, he stifled a smile. When he spoke again, however, his voice was as gruff as ever. "Doesn't really seem like I can keep you away."

­­­**……………………………………………………………………………………………..**

(REALLY quick A/N: Consider this the time when, in the movies, the little red line is tracing Indiana's travel route. I'm just giving you a little more detail than the movie for my story's sake.)

The voyage to Europe took nearly a week before the passenger ship made its dock in the coastal city of Brest, France. After a heated argument between Andi and Indiana, it was ultimately the elder Dr. Jones who convinced Andi to contact her guardians. They yelled a little bit but were generally apathetic when she finally reached them.

Meanwhile, Indiana took time to make substitute-teaching arrangements for the final two weeks of class before summer began. Thus arose another dilemma. "Are you missing school?" Indiana asked, suddenly realizing the fact as he hung up the phone with his fuming secretary.

Andi didn't even bother to look up from the book she'd become interested in. "Yes," she said, "but it's finals week."

"You can't miss finals, you won't pass any classes!"

"Do you think I am stupid?" She spoke calmly while carefully placing her book on the hotel suite's coffee table. "I wouldn't jeopardize passing my sophomore year. I have A's in all my classes. At my school you get exempt from a final when you have an A in the course."

Even with Andi's reassurance, Henry Sr. insisted on a 45-minute lesson period each morning (rotating subjects on a daily basis). "It will be enriching to continue your studies over the summer," he said. "We'll begin the day after tomorrow."

"Why not tomorrow?" Andi asked. She figured that she might as well face the music earlier rather than later.

"Oh. Didn't I tell you?" Henry chuckled a bit, "Marcus couldn't meet us at the dock in time on the evening we left, so he caught the next ship out of port. We're to meet him at the docks tomorrow morning."

"What time?" Indiana asked. He was a bit wary of how atrocious the answer might be.

Henry smiled, "I've always been a morning person and-"

"Dad…"

"- it has clinically been proven that people who get up earlier are generally more healthy-"

"Dr Jones… Just tell us."

"5:15 AM and from there we head south, into Spain.

Andi and Indiana shared an exasperated sigh. It had been a draining voyage so far…

"We'd do well to arrive around 4:45. Just in case," Henry added.

Tomorrow would prove to be a very, very long day.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

(Bear with me. I promise you some amount of action in the next chapter. There was simply no way to combine the two and make them one. We just needed to get through some of these essentials. I hope this chapter helped you get to know Andi better. She's a good kid. Thanks for reading!)


	8. OTR Part II, The Universal Language

Author's notes: I've apologized so many times for the time gaps in between chapters that these "I'm sorry's" are becoming really meaningless. Sooooooo I'll just avoid apologizing (even though I _really_ am sorry!) and pretend that it's only been three days since the last installment… Welcome readers! Back so soon? Well, enjoy!

Disclaimer: Keep out of hands of children.

And to the beloved Reviewers who I really, truly, deeply appreciate with the entirety of my heart:

**Maya Beebop** – I know it was short and kind of… blah but, originally, chapter 7 and this upcoming chapter were one whole chapter. But that just didn't work… I felt that it somehow took away from the story. It may just be me. Please tell me if you agree or not. I'm curious if it was all in my paranoid head. Glad you liked the Indy-Andi stuff.

**Sharpshooter125** – Thank you very much. And on the issue of publishing a story under two authors: you can't _technically _do it with the author tag being able to link to two separate profile pages, but you can create a new pen name that would read "Sharpshooter125 and (friend's name here)" and then the two of you would have a joined profile with all of the work you do together listed but people would be able to tell that you are two separate authors. Does that work for you? I hope so!

**Lightsabermaster** – Thanks for being understanding of all of the hindering factors. Despite that, I'm glad you were still able to enjoy it.

**Macpw2** – I'm glad you're enjoying it and I really hope that I can keep you interested.

**Et-spiritus-sancti** – I'm so curious that I can't help asking- what does your pen name mean? I just realized that, despite how cool it is, I don't have the slightest idea what it translates to. Hmm… my name doesn't _mean _anything really, it's actually a character that came out of my mind who actually belongs in the Harry Potter world. If you're a Harry Potter fan, I would encourage reading her back round story. I posted a bit of it on under 'The Lost Witch' if you're interested. Thanks for asking.

**Panter28** – I'm glad that you're interested and I certainly hope that the next chapter is something you will find entertaining.

**Dapunk4christ** – I'm glad you're able to identify with Andi. And yes, she does seem a bit luckier than the rest of us. But I think we need to remember that even the best of luck runs out. Haha, I like the title of your story and it looks very fun! I'll have to pop over and read it. Thanks for your interest.

Cflat – glad you like it. Hope the rest meets your expectations. 

**Rach** - I haven't been completely cured of the sickness, but I think I've almost beaten it to death at this point. Oh boy; cockroaches are not pretty things at all. I don't blame your parents for waking you, but the hour certainly was ungodly. Anyway, I was glad to see that you're still reading and I hope you enjoy the latest installment.

**Rei Jakagi – **I'm pleased to find that the story has met your standards. I have been worrying about my consistency and its nice to finally have some feedback on the matter. But on the subject of Andi and Indiana hooking up… Ew! It may be because I've gotten to know the characters much better in my mind, but the idea of that repulses me to some extent. If Andi were a different girl and Indiana a different man… perhaps. But in being consistent with Andi's character- I do apologize to you but – that would never happen.

**Luda Aduro**- I kid you not- while I was reading your review, I was totally eating a cookie. That may have been the most awesome thing that's ever happened!

**Blazing Sky **– I'm really pleased that you like the story so far and I know I haven't updated for a while, but it certainly has not been a year and a half. In fact, it was just over a half of a year ago… Not that its much better… anyway, I hope you keep reading and thanks for the input. If I decide to blow everyone up, you'll be the first to know.

**Ebonezer – Where the heck are you?**

………………………………………………………………….

This is a long one…

Chapter 8:

On the Road, Part II: "The Universal Language"

"Professor," Andi shook Indiana's lifeless shoulder. "Professor Jones, wake up!" He pushed her hands away without even opening his eyes. "Come on, Professor. Wake UP!" She was growing impatient as she gave one final, invigorated shove, but Indiana simply would not comply.

Andi stomped her foot in frustration and was ready to succumb to the urge to push the sleeping man off the bed entirely when an abandoned glass of water on Indiana's nightstand caught her eye. "Ok…" she muttered, "Fine." Andi took the glass in her hand and watched as the beads of perspiration dripped down the side of it and finally rolled down the back of he hand. They were cold… very cold. She looked down at Indiana for one final moment. "You asked for it."

……………………………..

Suddenly Indiana was cold; plunged into freezing water that splashed into his mouth and nose and- Oh God! Someone was drowning him! Indiana opened his eyes, but of course (being submerged), they were immediately filled with water.

Instinct threw Indiana's arms outward and grabbed desperately at the shoulders of his assailant. "Why the hell are you drowning me?" He sputtered. Wait- something wasn't right. If Indiana was under water, why was he able to breath? It took him a few seconds to realize that he was not, in fact, drowning, but sitting up in his bed with water dripping from his face.

"Well good morning to you, too."

"Andi? Why were you drowning me?" Indiana rubbed at his eyes.

Andi cocked an eyebrow. "A bit slow in the mornings, aren't you?" She waved the empty, but still dripping glass in front of Indiana's face before she set it back down.

"What did you do?" he barked.

Andi grinned, feeling high and mighty from another victorious banter. "How ironic. I could be asking you the same. Hurry up, we've gotta get out of here."

Indiana, confused and groggy, wiped his face with the bed sheet. "What time is it?" he mumbled.

"3:05."

"Oh… What?" Indiana was suddenly wide-awake and fully attentive. He scanned the room in bewilderment, looking for some answers as Dr. Jones Sr. entered.

"Why?… _Dad_," he said pointedly, "what happened?"

Henry lazily raised the newspaper to eye level and answered his son as he read. "I was preparing to practice my French reading on this morning's paper when, to my surprise, I saw your face on the front of it. There's a warrant for your arrest, Junior."

"Nazis…" Indiana hastily pushed his covers away and jumped out of bed. "I knew they'd try to pull something."

"So what do we do now?" asked Andi.

Indiana made the four-step journey to the room's coat rack and retrieved his jacket with one hand and jammed his hat down on his bed-head hair with the other. "We become invisible."

Andi took the paper from Henry. She examined it, and then looked at Indiana. The paper, then Indy. And after repeating this action a number of times, Andi laughed. "That's the way to do it; wear a fedora and leather jacket everywhere we go." She thrust the paper at Indiana's chest, turned on her heel and strode into the living area with Henry following.

"How would anyone - " Indiana, bewildered yet again, looked at the paper clutched in his fingers. The rich ink of foreign words smudged under his touch. He couldn't read a lick of the print, but Indiana understood the black and white photo consuming nearly one third of the page quite clearly.

It was a candid shot, with a good few people crammed into the frame, going about their day-to-day business. But one ruggedly handsome man stood out very distinctly from the crowd. He looked past the camera from beneath a suspiciously familiar brown fedora and the leather jacket that was stretched across his strong shoulders perfectly highlighted him from the multitude.

Indiana smiled wryly at the grainy image of himself. The kid was right: Indiana's choice of clothing would not help in an attempt to blend in. But then again, Indiana thought as he pulled his jacket on, invisibility had never really been his style.

……………………………..

Andi weaved her way through the dim streets of the Brest port that were just barely bathed in the rising sun and speckled with occasional ambitious street vendors getting an early start on their day. Indiana, resolved to dress in explorer attire ('more like idiot attire,' Andi thought) yet maintain unseen, had sent Andi in search of breakfast. She wasn't sure if it was because Dr. Jones Sr. insisted on a solid meal or if Indiana was still miffed about his wake-up call. Andi grinned at the latter, recalling Professor Jones' bewildered, half-asleep sputtering. When she came out of her reminiscent daze, however, Andi realized she was face to face with a native French man thrusting a single sheet of paper into Andi's hand. He began firing a rapid string of questions at her in French to which she merely shrugged, still too tired to even try translating. Nevertheless, she accepted the paper to stop the man's incessant chatter. Andi spent another few moments wandering the particularly restless street before she lackadaisically looked down at the paper that was still clutched in her hand.

Andi sighed as the same picture that was in the newspaper glared up at her from the newly acquired piece of paper. Not only this, but as Andi surveyed the street, she noticed five more men handing out this same paper. These Nazis were really determined to get the word out about Indiana Jones. She began crumbling up the useless little parchment when she noticed that there was another picture on the opposite side. She turned it over and, after letting the image sink in, began sprinting back to where she'd left the Joneses.

Indiana peered over the top of the newspaper that he'd been using to shield his face just as Andi dashed around the corner into his eyeshot. "No breakfast?" He said, seeming a little dejected.

Andi briefly glared at him as she stopped to catch her breath. "Professor- do we have Brody yet?" Her voice must have betrayed her concern. That, or Indiana must have caught on that there was a reason she'd been sprinting.

"No," he said, "but it's fine. I've stayed hidden. Don't worry, I sent dad to the dock to get Marcus."

Andi groaned. "Are you kidding? That's even worse."

"What? Why?"

Andi impatiently shoved the paper into Indiana's hand. "I saw about ten guys handing these out."

Indiana took one confused glance at the side with his own picture on it before turning the thing over. There, Indiana stared down in aghast at an image that, while grainy, was a clear representation of Dr. Jones Sr. Indiana did not waste any time. He immediately jumped to his feet but Andi grabbed his sleeve. "What are you thinking?" she snapped. "Your picture's on this paper too. Listen, I'll go get them. You stay here and try to figure out… well, figure out something. We've got to get out of France."

Indiana nodded in agreement before he realized what was happening. Nobody ordered around Indiana Jones! But before he could open his mouth to protest, Andi was disappearing into the growing morning crowd.

Andi searched for Dr. Jones for nearly fifteen minutes to no avail. Just when she began to panic that she'd been too late, she caught site of two incredibly out of place gentlemen both looking to be a bit lost. Not only had she located the men, but also it did not seem as if anyone had taken note of the picture of Dr. Jones yet. Andi exhaled the long breath that she didn't even realize she'd been holding.

"I told you Marcus," Dr. Jones snapped, "Junior's in hiding… I know he's up here somewhere… I just can't remember where."

Andi quickly moved to meet up with the two men. After rushing through an introduction with Marcus Brody, Andi hurried the men back to where she'd last spoken to Indiana, but he wasn't there. '_That's ok,' _she thought, _'he just went to get a car or something… plus there's no sign of any-' _Andi could have sworn that her heart stopped beating for, as she looked out into the crowd, she noticed a strangely dressed officer being pointed directly in the direction of Henry Jones. She hadn't yet had time to explain why she was rushing Dr. Jones and Mr. Brody and it appeared that the explanation would have to wait a little longer. "Uh, I think Indiana is, er, this way…" Andi said as calmly as she could. She motioned for the men to follow her in hopes that the officer she now identified as a nazi wouldn't notice. Her hopes, however, were far too high.

"Hey, you there, stop!" A heavily accented voice rang out from behind the trio.

"Andi, I believe someone's trying to get our attention," Marcus said, peering over his shoulder.

"Mr. Brody, Dr. Jones, I think that I should talk to this man," she said, thinking she could slow the nazi down. She turned back toward the nazi, who was now moving rather briskly in their direction. He was also being joined by two other police officers. "On second thought, I'm going to have to ask you both to do something."

The two men stared down quizzically at her, "Run. I'm serious. Right now would be a perfect time to start."

"What?" Dr. Jones barked.

"RUN!" Andi yelled more forcefully, showing by example what to do. Both men took the hint and were not far behind Andi. It seemed for a very fleeting couple of seconds that Andi and the older men could lose the officers. She would glance back every few seconds to see the nazi and two local police officers slipping farther and farther into the crowd. Just as Andi turned to face forward after a final peek behind her, she noticed a different Nazi running toward her and the two older men. They were trapped, she realized in shock. The Nazis were closing in rapidly and Andi's panic was quickly rising when she suddenly heard an incessant honking coming from a bus not 20 feet away. She had to squint a little, but Andi could swear that she saw Indiana beyond the windshield, reaching around the bus driver and banging on the horn.

"Come on," she grabbed Dr. Jones by the arm and made a B-line for the open bus door. Andi scrambled on the bus behind the two older men and Indiana pulled the lever to shut the door. And not a moment too soon for, as the doors clicked shut, the fastest of the chasing nazi's reached the bus and began banging on the door. Indiana pulled at the door lever with all of his might to keep the nazi out but it would only be a matter of time before the angry soldier remembered he had a gun. "Go!" Andi yelled, but the bus driver shook his head fervently, refusing to be a part of what he must have thought was a criminal getaway.

"Dad, tell the driver to move," Indiana snarled through gritted teeth.

"Sir, please move." Henry began, "We are in dire need of your automobile's services and I assure you, we have committed no crime" The driver stared blankly at Dr. Jones.

"In French, Dad!"

"Son, I don't speak French," Henry said in shock.

"What do you mean?" Indiana asked incredulously, struggling a little more with the door as a second nazi began pulling at it as well. "You were reading the paper this morning!"

Henry snorted, "Understanding what the words mean on paper and knowing how to say them are two completely separate things."

Brody, obviously lost in the mess of the morning's events, dropped into one of the bus seats. Andi, meanwhile, began trying to recall anything at all from her brief training in French. "Monsieur, Je… Je suis Americain et nous allons… nous…" she fumbled around for the French verbs that she no longer remembered. "Jones!" she said in pleading desperation.

Indiana noticed one of the nazis reaching toward his gun and it was at that moment that Indiana was struck with brilliance. "Kid! Andi, take my gun!"

"What? I'm not going to shoot the bus driver!"

"I'm not asking you to," Indiana barked. "Just take the gun!"

Andi finally understood what he was saying. She snatched Indiana's gun from the holster at his waste and pointed it fiercely at the poor French bus driver. "MOVE!" she shouted.

Almost instantly, the bus driver hopped up and dove toward the back of the bus. Andi took his seat without hesitating and put the huge automobile into gear. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a nazi's gun being expertly aimed at Indiana instead of at one of the tires. That was the only incentive Andi needed to slam her foot down on the gas and send the bus pummeling down the French street. She never heard the nazi's gun shot, but Andi wasn't entirely concerned about that.

In the thick of the encounter with the nazis, there's been no time to stop and let one of the more experienced drivers take over. Instead, Indiana called out advisements like "brake …brake… BRAKE!" every few moments and a panic-ed Andi followed them. Andi breathed an enormous sigh 15 minutes later as the bus finally reached a French country road. She couldn't be sure what sort of luck had aided her in losing the nazis, but she'd take it anyway. Andi pulled the bus over to the side of the road and put it in park so that Henry could take over driving and they could let the poor bus driver out. "You know," Andi said as she plopped down in the seat across from Indiana, "I really am getting good at this driving thing."

Indiana briefly glowered at her, recalling the various bumps and turns that had made his stomach more than queasy. "Oh," Andi pulled Indiana's gun from it's lodging at her side between her belt and pants and tossed it back to Indiana. "I would have never thought of that whole gun thing."

Indiana chuckled lightly. "If there's one thing you need to know when traveling, it's that this," he held up the gun, "speaks a universal language."


	9. Welcome Home

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am now settled into college in Southern California. It's been quite a pilgrimage from Kansas. I am at the school of my dreams studying film production. So I will be writing and directing movies for the next four years! Nevertheless, I couldn't forget this Indiana Jones story. It has been a long time… a really long time since I have updated, but I love this chapter and after rewriting it four times, I think it is finally ready for viewers! I thank you all so much for being so patient with me and for inspiring me with all of the reviews. They really do mean a lot to me. I hope you enjoy this next installment. I vow to keep it coming!!! I WILL NOT GIVE UP ON THIS STORY! I promise. I already have the very end written, it's just the in between now. Skip the next bit if you don't want to see responses to reviews.

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And to the Beloved Reviewers:

Maya Beebop: I'm so glad you approved of my choice to make non-horrendously long chapters. In retrospect, I see a better place where I could have made the division and I may change it someday, but oh well! The assumption with Andi knowing how to work a car is that she lives with rich relatives and that they've given her a lesson or two. Also, you don't know everything about Andi's past yet. And that's all I'm saying about that now! I do, of course, know who our fabulous and handsome canon hero is, and I don't feel like Andi is doing everything. After all, she was taking direct instructions from Indy this chapter and I felt that he was the hero here. They'll work together and this is a story about the both of them, but I will definitely be conscientious about keeping Indiana in his well earned place. Thanks for your continued reviews and also for caring enough about the story to offer constructive criticism. I should stop typing or this response will be longer than the next chapter!

Et-spiritus-sancti: I am equally excited that you really liked the chapter. I adore Marcus… really, I absolutely love that man. It wouldn't be a story without all of our favorite characters. Latin is beautiful and I do indeed write Harry Potter. Just one story, though. Thanks a ton!

Lightsabermaster: I am dancing back because I am so happy that I updated… if that makes any sense. I love Andi. I want to BE Andi and it's fabulous to hear that others do too. Enjoy!!

Sugary-candle-baka-chan: I am incredibly happy that you like it. And I like that little content, happy face you made as well!

The girl with no life: Haha, cute name! I haven't watched Raiders in such a long time. It has been far too long, but I keep putting off buying it because I've asked for the box set in a nice little college care package! I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see new reviewers come in after 8 chapters have been written. Hope this chapter makes you want to continue reading!

Becky: Two reviews! I feel so loved. I am sorry that this took so long and I hope the chapter is a pleasing one and all that jazz. I'm so flattered you took the time to come check for updates.

Katie: I can't believe that my story is inspiring to you. That's great and so flattering. I'm going to try my hardest to keep it coming. Thank you so much for saying such kind things about the story. Hope you like the update!

-JackIsBack-2007-: I'm very pleased you want to read more which is exactly why I am updating this as we speak!

The Muleteer: Thanks for the great praise on the story. I am updating and I will NOT give up on this story. That is one thing I can guarentee. I won't tell you much except that Sallah will definitely be involved!

DragonMaster1992: Glad you liked the chapter. I am very sorry to keep you reviewers waiting. I truly appreciate you guys so much. I'll update more as fast as I can.

Dobbit: Hello, I'm so pleased and excited that you're enjoying the story. And I am incredibly humbled that you compared my dialogue to the dialogue in the films. As an aspiring screen writer- that is the highest praise.

Nathaneal Jacobs: Fun is a fabulous compliment to receive. That's exactly what this story is supposed to be. It's great to hear that Indiana and Henry are staying in character. I try very hard to let those two just flow from the pen. I hope you enjoy!!!

Ilovegregoryhouse: I love Gregory House too! And I'm so glad that you love my story!!! The update is here and I hope that you simply love it as much as we both love Gregory house…. Ok, well, maybe not that much. But I hope that you love it a lot!

Disclaimer: Turn off the power before changing light bulbs.

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IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE VOYAGE THROUGH EUROPE MAPPED OUT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I WILL GEIT IT TO YOU

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Finally, Here it is:

**Chapter Nine:**

**"Welcome Home"**

Andi was jolted from a bumped and uncomfortable sleep as 3 bright lights in the distance reflected from the bus window. Perhaps it was the fact that the sun had faded from the sky an hour ago or that Indiana Jones was dozing in the seat across from her with his hat over his face, but Andi was disoriented for a moment as she rubbed at her eyes. She then remembered with a small smile that the United States was thousands of miles across an ocean.

She peered toward the front of the bus where Marcus slept, his face pressed awkwardly against the window. Every few minutes, the occasional snore would escape his nostrils, creating small pools of condensation on the glass that faded only seconds after they appeared. As the lights that had drawn Andi from her sleep began to grow closer, she meandered through the aisle, clutching various seat tops to keep her balance, until she was eventually standing next to Henry Jones.

He halfway glanced at her without really taking his eyes from the road.

"What are those lights," she murmured, not expecting her voice to come out as groggy sounding as it had.

"Unless I have misread the map," he replied with a chuckle, "we're approaching the south-western border of Spain. Those lights are the port. The plan is to continue east on… which sea?" He asked in only the way a teacher could.

Andi stifled a laugh out of respect for Dr. Jones, but she couldn't help grinning through the evening's darkness as she replied. "The Mediterranean."

Henry nodded his approval and continued with his explanation. "It's not quite safe to travel through some of Egypt's neighboring countries so we'll be traveling The Mediterranean all the way to Egypt."

Andi stared fixatedly at her feet until the motion of the bus started making her feel sick. "I've always wanted to go to Egypt," she managed to murmur, though her throat had grown oddly tight.

Henry, apparently oblivious to any change, halfway turned to Andi and smiled. "Well, now seems like a fine opportunity."

She nodded absently. "Do we have a boat?"

"I believe so. Junior said he'd take care of that."

Indeed, Indiana made arrangements when they arrived at the coast, but it wasn't entirely what Henry would have preferred.

"This is what you call "taking care" of a boat?" Henry asked incredulously. He peered anxiously at the ship they would be traveling on. It was large enough, certainly, but the once clean, white paint that had covered the vessel was chipped and developing a thick coat of rust on all sides. The side facing the Jones's had once borne the name "Mary-Lou" in neat black letters, but no one who saw the boat in it's present state would ever be able to figure that. The only thing left of the letters was a loose hanging "y- ou."

Henry was not particularly worried about the ship, itself, but rather the three men and the captain who would be crewing it. They were all dressed in ragged pants and only two wore shirts. The one who appeared to be the youngest proudly displayed his blackened eye and fat lip as he lifted cargo onto the ship. The two remaining crew members were rather fiercely arguing over a the last bit of rum within a brown glass bottle as the captain slept with his head against the wheel, drooling.

"Son," Henry said worriedly, "I'm beginning to doubt your judgment."

Indiana followed his father's gaze to the boaters just as the young one began loading various guns and rifles with bullets.

Henry served his son with a sharp glare. "Dad, they're just taking precautions." Indiana unceremoniously brandished his own gun. "Look, I do the same thing."

"And that's meant to reassure me?"

Before Indiana had a chance to respond, the previously sleeping captain was calling everyone aboard in heavily accented English. "Let's go! Get a move on Americans!" He yelled out as Andi clambered onto the ship after everyone else.

By now, night had entirely surrounded them. The youngest crew member, who was referred to as 'Slop,' showed them the under deck kitchen (where they would be eating meals that looked much like the young crew man's name) and a sleeping room with two sets of bunk beds in it. It smelled of a mildew that was entirely unidentifiable.

Needless-to-say, as three days of the voyage passed, the only time that was spent below deck was when it was absolutely necessary to sleep. Even so, everyone slept fairly well until the fourth and final night of the voyage. Indiana had fallen asleep nearly an hour ago and his father, on the bunk below him, followed suit quickly. Andi silently lay on the top bunk of the other bed, too excited and nervous to be sleeping or even laying down for that matter. On the bunk below her, Marcus had stopped tossing and turning over fifteen minutes ago. She finally felt that it was safe to get up without bothering anyone and slowly climbed down the wooden boards of the bed until she stumbled loudly to the floor. Andi cringed, but no one appeared to be disturbed in their respective bunks so she continued into the tiny hallway. The crew members' door was open and the three of them snored loudly. She persisted through the hallway and emerged from the staircase onto the deck. The captain acknowledged Andi's presence by offering a small wave, but then continued on with his work.

Andi settled down on the place on the deck that she'd grown the most accustomed to. The darkness of this night was all encompassing and she felt as if she could simply melt into it. Andi became so engrossed in the beauty of the ocean and the stars above her that she had no idea that someone was now 5 feet behind her.

"It's amazing out here," he murmured.

Andi turned around, surprised to see Marcus Brody standing there. "It is," she agreed. "Did I wake you up?"

"Oh no," Brody assured her, perhaps lying, as he took a seat next to her. "I have a difficult time sleeping on boats."

Andi nodded and returned her gaze to the sea. In the silence that followed, Andi thought very briefly that she saw the light of a boat off on the distant water, but as soon as she blinked, it was gone.

"You did say your name was Andrea Falit, didn't you?" Marcus asked, pulling her mind back onto the boat and giving her no time to wonder about her apparent hallucination.

All of Andi's muscles tightened. She had hoped that, because of their hasty introduction, this would be avoided. But now, as Andi nodded in answer to Brody's question, she knew exactly what was coming.

"Ah, yes. I thought you'd said that. And your parents… Daniel and Eileen?"

Again, Andi nodded.

"They were incredible people."

"I know," Andi mused quietly. She thought intently about what to say next. "I assumed you might not make the connection."

"Come now," Marcus said, gently chiding her as she laughed a little at what they both knew to be the ridiculousness of her previous statement. "You know, I remember meeting you once at a museum event-"

The conversation was not to be continued for at that very second, the boat gave a tremendous shutter. Andi and Marcus instinctively grabbed the deck railing to steady themselves.

"Dear Lord! What was that?" Marcus looked around in obvious panic.

Andi leaned over the railing to get a clear view of the front of the ship. There was another boat and it had apparently crashed into theirs but, Andi realized as dark silhouetted figures began boarding the "y- ou," the crash had not been an accident. This new boat's lights were off and Andi suddenly realized that the light she had seen in the distance belonged to this new boat and the light hadn't disappeared: it had deliberately been switched off so the boat could approach secretly.

Marcus quieted in understanding. Andi was momentarily frozen in pure shock. She could only watch as their captain began shouting and cursing in every language he knew. Andi assumed that the people who were boarding their ship were pirates. Who else would board them in the middle of the Mediterranean? Another pirate who had just climbed aboard raised his arm up and it appeared as if he was simply pointing at the captain until he fired the gun that had been in his hand, hidden by darkness, and forever silenced the captain's calls.

Andi's hand shot to her mouth as she stifled her own combination of a gasp and scream. She had never watched anyone die or be shot, for that matter. Regardless, Andi knew that screaming was an enormous mistake the moment she'd done it. She wished desperately that maybe the captain's murderer had not heard her short-lived cry, but Andi somehow knew that he was now staring at her through the night.

Andi turned to look at Dr. Brody. He didn't seem to know that the murderer had seen Andi, but as soon as he realized that she was in danger (as he inevitably would), he would try to save her from this pirate. Andi knew that Marcus stood even less of a chance than her against a cold murderer. "Go get Indiana," she whispered.

Thankfully, Marcus hurried off toward the stairs and Andi turned to face the approaching pirate. She was surprised, however, when the 'pirate' came into clearer view and turned out to be a Nazi soldier. Andi back away slowly, looking everywhere for some solution to this. She could hide behind something and use it as some type of a shield from the gun, but if this soldier was carrying a German Luger pistol, not any type of barrier would protect her from its bullets. As long as the soldier carried a gun, Andi was in serious trouble. She scanned the deck around her for something- anything that she could use to throw at the Nazi and dislodge the gun from his hand.

The boat rocked once more from another small collision with the Nazi's ship. Andi's assailant stumbled a little at the same time that something rolled across the deck and collided with Andi's foot. She looked down to see the crew's empty rum bottle and immediately clenched her fingers around its neck. Her Nazi attacker would be rebalanced and ready to shoot and Andi had little time to think about how terrified she was or the fact that her very existence was in severe danger as she reeled her arm back and heaved the bottle with all of her might at what she hoped was the Nazi's right arm. Just as he raised his gun and began to tighten the muscles in his hand to pull the trigger, the bottle hit him squarely in the wrist and shattered. His gun fired, but the bullet was sent at an off kilter angle. As glass shrapnel flew in all directions, the pistol was sent flying into the sea, never to be found again.

Andi had no time to celebrate this small victory. Not only was she being attacked by a Nazi, Andi was now being attacked by a very angry Nazi. She no longer back away slowly, but rather turned on her heel and ran as fast as the rocking ship would allow. She hurried to the very back of the boat, where she stood behind a wooden deck chair and waited anxiously for the Nazi to approach. As soon as he grew near, his fists flying, Andi picked up the chair and swung it at him will all her might. Pieces of the chair clattered to the ground and it gave him a moment of pause, but was a flimsy piece of furniture and did no damage.

Andi's next thought was to run, but she realized she had no way of getting past the Nazi. How could she have been so stupid? She had literally backed herself into a corner. Andi looked past the hulking man and saw Indiana fighting two other Nazis fifty feet away.

"Professor Jones!!" she shouted, but the wind swallowed her words. The Nazi turned for a moment to see Indiana engrossed in his own battle as Andi yelled his name again to no avail.

The Nazi looked back to her and laughed. This would not even be a fight and they both knew it.

"Indiana!" Andi cried out desperately.

He wasn't coming. She pulled back her right arm and tried to punch the Nazi, but he caught her wrist in his hand and sneered down at her. "No one is going to save you."

Andi's heart seemed to be stopped. She couldn't really remember what breathing normally was like. As Andi began preparing herself for the worst, the Nazi suddenly was thrown away from her as Indiana Jones grabbed his shoulders from behind and sent him tumbling to the deck floor. Andi stumbled out of the way as Indiana picked the Nazi up by the front of his shirt and blew him a powerful punch to the left side of his face. Just as the Nazi seemed prepared to fight back, Indiana slammed him against the deck railing and flipped his legs over which sent him plummeting to the sea.

Indiana wiped a bit of blood away from his lip and peered over at Andi. "Are You okay?" He called.

Andi nodded even though she felt like she was about to collapse.

"Dad, Marcus," Indiana yelled in the direction of the stairway, "It's safe to come out."

Brody and Jones Sr. made their way slowly onto the deck.

"Did you get them all?" Andi asked.

Just as Indiana was nodding, he and Andi almost simultaneously noticed that there was one more Nazi on the ship, holding a young boy at gun point. Indiana whipped out his pistol and instinctively pointed it at the Nazi.

It took Andi a moment to see that the boy was Slop. She was stunned to realize, as she watched him crying and pleading for his life in broken English, that Slop couldn't be any older than her. In fact, they could have easily been the very same age.

"Tell me where it is Jones," The Nazi growled, "or the boy dies."

At this, Slop let out a cry. Indiana stared at the Nazi in confused horror.

"Where what is?" He asked sternly.

"Do not toy with me. I will kill him." The Nazi stared intently into the face of Indiana Jones. "You have three seconds. three."

Indiana thought furiously, searching his brain for some artifact he had that the Nazis might want.

"two….." The Nazi readied his pistol, "on-"

"Alright!" Indiana shouted, "It isn't here. It's hidden back in the United States. We can have it shipped to Cairo as soon as we get there."

"There, now, that's much more reasonable of -" The Nazi was interrupted as Slop, apparently, had had enough. He grabbed the Nazi's gun arm and swung it away from him quickly. The Nazi fired his gun, sending a bullet plummeting into a barrel on the ship's deck. Much to everyone except Slop's surprise, the barrel detonated in a small explosion, catching the deck on fire.

Indiana took that moment to pistol whip the Nazi into unconsciousness and threw him into the water. Then, he turned to Slop. "What the hell was that!" It wasn't a question as much of a demand.

"Gun powder barrel," Slop replied in a panic.

Indiana threw his hand into the air. "Why does everyone keep explosives on the decks of their ships?" He cried out incredulously.

Slop shook his head. "No more room in cargo. We must get off boat!"

Indiana didn't understand so Slop continued frantically. "Along with taking Jones to Africa, we ship gun powder!! Cargo is gun powder!" Slop gave one look at the rapidly growing flames, ran to the railing, and jumped.

Andi gasped. "Indy! The cargo bay is filled with gun powder barrels. How far are we from Egypt? Can we swim?"

"It's gotta be at least 6 miles," Indiana replied. He turned to his father and Marcus, "We have to jump. This thing is going to explode."

"But we need a boat, Junior,"

"I know, dad, let me handle that."

"That didn't work out so well last time," Henry mused to Marcus.

Indiana rolled his eyes and ran to the railing. "Dad! Jump!" He shouted.

Henry, sensing the urgency in his son's voice, awkwardly climbed over the railing and, after a brief pause, let himself drop into the Mediterranean. Marcus followed, leaving only Andi and Indiana on board. "Jump!" Indiana ordered, his voice now a shout to be heard over the crackling flames.

Andi shook her head, "We need a boat."

"I know that," Indiana shouted growing very tired of hearing this statement. "We're using the life raft."

"But you have to lower it with two cranks. It will be faster with both of us."

Indiana had no time to argue. He led the way over to the life raft with Andi on his heels. As she ripped the tarp off as fast as possible, Indiana readied the cranks. "Ok," Indiana shouted, "Ready?… and go!" The both began the steady process of cranking. It was an odd sensation; both had the urge to turn the handles as fast as possible, but the mechanism only allowed for a slow and calm rotation.

The boat was lowering perfectly and was barely 7 feet above the water when Andi's crank abruptly stopped.

"What are you doing?" Indiana barked, "Keep going!"

Andi jostled the handle and pushed at it with all her might. "It's stuck!"

Indiana ran to Andi's crank and tried the same jostling with all his strength, but the device was hopelessly stuck. Indiana looked Andi straight in the eye. "Get off the boat," he said fixedly.

Andi nodded numbly, knowing that she would not win this argument. The longer she stayed on the boat, the less time Indiana had to come up with a solution. She climbed over the bars of the railing and jumped into the cool water below.

Indiana was completely alone. He did not know what had happened to the other crew members and, at this point, it didn't matter. Indiana knew that he did not have a single second to waste. Fire had spread out over a majority of the ship. He could feel the intense heat even on the soles of his feet, but he did not take the time to acknowledge it. He knew time was something he did not have. He had seconds, at the most. Indiana ran back to his slow moving, yet working, crank and lowered the boat down as far as it would go. He then grabbed a shard of glass off the deck that had come from God knows where and cut the rope. Indiana ran to the broken crank and used the glass the cut through this rope as well, letting the boat drop into the water with a splash.

Indiana somehow understood that if he didn't right jump now, he would die. He placed his hand on the railing and hopped over it in one bound as the heat intensified behind him and the boat began to explode, from the inside out.

It was an incredible sight from where Andi treaded water 30 feet away. She nearly forgot to keep swimming as she saw through a below deck window that the cargo bay had ignited and Indiana had not yet left the ship. She was convinced that he had jumped at the very last instant possible before a huge mushroom of flames appeared behind him as if by magic, as he fell through the air and into the refuge of the water.

The four of them now sat, sprawled out in the life boat built to carry 15 people. This is just how they approached the largest port in Egypt, meant for ritzy cruise liners and the massive ships of tourists. Their life boat was rowed in by Indiana past an enormous yacht at around 8 am. The only person on the entire yacht who seemed to notice their odd 'vessel' was the driver. Indiana saluted him to which he responded with a dazed wave.

They left their boat at a dock that was one hundred sizes too large and then got in line behind a number of tourists to pass through customs. Andi un-pocketed her damp passport and marveled at the number of stamps she'd gotten just in the last week: France, Spain, and now Egypt. It was just dumb luck that she'd even had her passport on the day that this whole adventure started. An insane fantasy, really. She clearly remembered waking up that morning, knowing that she would be confronting Indiana Jones about the missing Ark. Andi always kept her passport on her dresser and the idea hit her as she passed by it that she would be whirled into an exhilarating, international journey. Pretending that the dream would come true was too much to resist and, in the last second, she'd snatched up her passport and stuffed it in her pocket. Andi never could have imagined that it all actually would become a reality.

Her mind only returned to the present when she'd reached the front of the line and a large, jolly looking man asked for her passport. Andi presented it almost gleefully.

As the man examined it, his smile widened and he looked up at Andi with a discerning gaze. He couldn't help but exclaim loudly, for all to hear:

"An Egyptian citizen! Welcome Home!"


	10. If you go, I will go too

Author's Note: I am so appalled with myself that I did not add a single chapter last year. I'll be honest: I've had this chapter written up until the point they meet their contact for the past year… since I posted the last chapter. I just get stuck and give up. For this, I can only continue to apologize. All I can say to you is that I will try again to turn over a new leaf. My personal goal is to finish this story before the 4th Indiana Jones movie comes out. How excited are all the Indy fans out there? I am personally freaking out with giddiness. (Review responses are at the end)

Thank you for the reviews- and thank you for sticking with me.

* * *

"If You Go, I Will Go Too."

Andi cringed inwardly. She'd not even thought that concealing this part of her identity would remotely be a problem. "Thanks very much," Andi murmured with a forced smile as the jolly Egyptian man stamped her passport. Maybe Indiana hadn't noticed. She snuck a glance over her shoulder to find him staring at her with a slackened jaw. Yes, he'd noticed. They hurried through the line in their soggy clothing, meriting a great deal of attention from the other tourists and citizens entering the country. Finally, when they'd completed all custom procedures, Andi felt a hand on her shoulder, roughly turning her around to squarely face Indiana. Marcus and Henry mulled about an information stand a few feet away. "What do you mean, not mentioning you're an Egyptian citizen? That's a pretty big piece of information to leave out. If you hadn't tipped us off to the Nazis plan and weren't 15, I'd think you were one of them."

Andi sighed. She couldn't pretend that Indiana didn't have a point. "I'm sorry," she sputtered, "I just didn't think that it was important… and I am not one of them," she finished with as much indignance as could be mustered.

Indiana clenched his teeth for a moment. His mouth would open, then immediately close as if he couldn't decide which question was the most important one. "How," he demanded skeptically. "How are you an Egyptian citizen?"

Andi swallowed and realized how incredibly dry her mouth was. She would have to answer this carefully. "Well, I um, I was actually born here. See, my parents were archaeologists and they were on an extended dig here so they were basically living in Cairo and… I was born while they were here."

"You're parents were archaeologists?"

Andi bit her lip and nodded, just knowing that Indiana would want to know more and would continue questioning her, but she was wrong.

Indiana half grimaced and half laughed in resigned exasperation. "I never know what to expect out of you." He turned and began to walk toward Henry and Marcus.

"Thanks, Professor." Andi replied before following him.

"Hey, kid?"

"Yeah?" Andi was anxious to hear what Indiana had to say next.

"Don't call me Professor."

"OK. Indiana?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't call me kid."

* * *

Henry, Indiana, Marcus, and Andi waited for nearly an hour near the docks for their contact to arrive.

"Out of curiosity," Marcus piped up, "Are we outlaws here as well?"

Indiana and his father shared a shrug. "I don't know," Indiana sighed. "But I'd like to get out of public as soon as possible. Those Nazis will begin to wonder where their soldiers are." Indiana glanced impatiently down the road. "Where is he? He said he would be here 45 minutes ago!"

Andi finally voiced the suspicion she'd been having since they arrived. "Are we sure this man is completely trustworthy?"

Without any hesitation or deliberation needed, all three men immediately replied a resounding "Yes."

Andi had no time to reply because even as she opened her mouth, a booming voice rang out.

"My friends! All together again so soon!" Andi heard the big, jovial man before she saw him. But he was unmistakable: a broad Egyptian with the kindest smile she had ever seen. He seemed to part the crowd with the sound of his voice and he approached the strange little group with his arms spread wide.

Andi looked at the men around her: all of their spirits seemed lifted by the mere presence of this man.

"Sallah," Marcus offered, noticing Andi's perplexed expression, "an old friend from our previous adventures."

By this time, Sallah had come upon them and was embracing them one by one. "Indy, I am sorry for the delay, when I realized how many of you there were, I had to borrow my brother's truck and-"

Indiana waved his excuses away "Don't worry, Sal. It's good to see you."

"And where is the little detective?" Sallah grinned. "He sounds like he will fit in very well with us, yes?

Andi waved hesitantly from behind Indiana. "Well, he is not exactly a 'he'…" Indiana's voice trailed away.

Sallah's smile grew and he embraced Andi in a great hug. "Forgive me, friend. I thought Andi was a name just for the boys!"

Andi grinned sheepishly at this familiar response. "It's ok. I don't mind." She could hardly get another word in for the rest of their journey. Sallah was too excited to meet her and to see his old friends again. He chattered on and on, volunteering incredible stories of Indiana's previous adventures.

"-And Henry was instantly healed by the water." When Sallah reached the story about Henry being shot and Indiana holding the cup of life in his very hands, Andi couldn't help but let her jaw drop.

"It's real?" Andi interrupted. "The Holy Grail? It's actually a real and working cup of life?!" All three of the scholars confirmed Sallah's word.

"Prof- Indiana," Andi quickly corrected herself, "I thought you said all those stories you fake? Just legend."

Indiana chuckled, "Well, that was when I thought you were an swooning girl."

Andi was stunned into silence for the first time in her adventure. "but… but it isn't possible. That would- but science… and fact- You mean to say the supernatural is real?"

Marcus nodded encouragingly at her perplexed face.

"Wow," Andi breathed. She couldn't really take it in and she shook her head as if it would sort out all of the mixed up facts in her mind.

This changed everything.

Sallah drove them to the hotel where they had a 3 bedroom loft reserved (Sal's house simply wasn't big enough for all of them). Once Andi had gotten settled in her room, which there wasn't much to do since she only had a small nap sack and the bit of clothing she'd bought in Spain, she rejoined the men in the living area to find a very intense discussion occurring. From what she could gather, Sallah was divulging everything he knew about the Nazi activity in Cairo… which didn't seem like much.

"They are being even more secretive than when they were searching for the Ark," Sallah sighed.

"The man on the boat," Indiana mused, "he thought I had something… some artifact. What are they looking for?"

"I don't what they want from you, Indy… But I've heard they bring in scholars and archaeologists and try to get information… torture them, then kill them when they are finished with them. So no one knows what they ask them." Andi could feel her own face reddening in anger. "They hired a very small group of Egyptian diggers, and I do not know who any of them are. No one knows where they are digging. I'm sorry, Indy, I talked to all my best sources."

Indiana crossed to the quickly darkening window. Andi hadn't even noticed it was evening. "They're based out of Cairo's museum and security is mad there! Guards everywhere with their steel machine gun and big lights during covering the outside at night. They meet at night, but no one can get in. They are ordered to shoot on sight."

Andi watched Indiana intently as he stood next to the window. "Do they meet every night?" he asked.

Sallah stared at him, a look of realization spreading across his face, but he answered honestly. "Yes."

"Do you think there's a way in, Sallah?" Indiana stared hard into his friend's face.

Sallah looked reluctant, but he nodded anyway. "If you go, I will go too, my friend."

Henry looked mortified and Marcus shook his head ruefully. Indiana's face was set, though. "Alright then. We're going."

"I'm coming too," Andi added in her strongest tone.

"No you aren't," Indiana said without even bothering to look at her. He continued speaking as if there hadn't been an interruption. "Dad, Marcus, we'll be back by morning." He spared his father a reassuring glance.

"I know you will, junior," Henry said.

"Indiana, please," It was more of an argumentative command than a plea.

This time, Indiana turned on her. "Not a chance." he barked. He replaced his hat on his head and moved toward the door with Sallah at his side.

"Try to stop me," Andi challenged, her eyes blazing in her frustration and wild determination.

Indiana turned on her and simply glared for a few moments. For the briefest of instances, Andi thought he might give in, but she was far from correct. Indiana lowered his shoulder, thrust it toward her stomach, grabbed her around the knees and heaved her over his shoulder.

She tried to kick him, but his hold was to tight around her legs. Instead, she yelled and pounded on his back with her fists and he marched into her room and tossed her down in an armchair.

Andi was so stung that she simply sat there fuming and avoiding Indiana's eye contact. "Listen, you do things my way or you go home. You are NOT coming and that is final!" With that he turned on his heal and left her room, locking the door behind him.

* * *

To The Reviewers:

Iccle fairy - Thanks so much! Glad you like it.

FlyingLikeaPhantom - I'm happy you enjoy the story. I'll try to put up chapters quicker.

Catastian - I hate to say it, but the Indiana Jones we're going to see this summer is closer to 60 than 40. But he is still very dashing! Hope you liked the chapter.

Et-spiritus-sancti - I will not stop plugging away at this story. I enjoy it way too much. Thanks for sticking with me!

InuYasha40 - I'm glad you found this story and like it. If there is one vow I will make, it is that I'm not going to give up on this story. On your comment about Doctor vs. Professor. They both have degrees as doctors and both are professors. There is even a joke in Last Crusade when a Nazi says "Dr. Jones" and they both reply. Hope that clears things up. It will get clearer as Andi gets to know them better and is more comfortable addressing them informally.

SecretChances - I'm glad you enjoy the interaction. I work hard to make it both believable and fun. It is really nice to get reinforcement about it. Enjoy!

Martin Hooper1 - I'm happy you like it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Arinya - I hope this new chapter find you well, its been way too long since chapter 9. Anyway, this is such fun writing and its great to hear that you are liking it.

Lightsabermaster - I'm glad you reviewed again. I do take issue with you calling Andi Mary-Sueish. No one says anything about Indiana always being able to handle tough situations and being an incredibly luck archaeologist. The feminist in me roars up when I hear people calling a girl who acts in the same way a "Mary Sue". I don't think Andi has thus far been a perfect character at all - she has her moments, but so does every leading character in a story.

Anyway, off the soap box now. Film majoring is fun. Creative Writing was actually my other option when I was first applying so we have that in common!

Dumbblonde76 - I'm so happy that you enjoyed the last chapter. The next one will hopefully come more quickly. Anyway, enjoy!

Indy Pollard - I'm actually relieved to hear that you were confused. That was the effect I was going for- to get people guessing! Hehe. The next few chapters will clear some things up and muddle other things even more.

Horse-James-Book-Lily-Worm - That name is quite a mouthful! Glad you like the story and I hope you keep reading it!

The girl with no life - Hi again! I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'm glad you're still reading. Thanks for the feedback.


	11. Oh Dear

-1AN- The second half of this chapter is in the can (that's to say, it is already finished). I just felt that it was too long and there was too information for one chapter. There is a plus to this- it is a guarantee that the next chapter will be put up soon. I'll give this one a week or two- and then you'll have a new segment. (I think that's a record for me!) Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think.

Disclaimer- Contents will be hot.

To the beloved reviewers:

FlyingLikeaPhantom- Sorry about the a verses an. I am a bit of a grammar freak myself so I went through the whole thing to see what you were talking about it. I haven't fixed it, but I'm glad I know where it is when I go through to edit! Thanks for keeping me on my toes and hope you enjoy this chapter!

InuYasha40- Happy to hear that you're still reading the story. Yeah, I'm basically freaking out about the 4th movie. Did you know they have Indiana Jones fruit snacks at Target right now?! I saw them and about died of delight.

PadmatheQ- I'm glad you're back with the story. This gap is an improvement from the last one and the next chapter will come even quicker. I hope you continue to enjoy it.

CHAPTER 11: "Oh Dear"

She couldn't believe it. Andi was absolutely stunned and humiliated that Indiana had physically prohibited her from going. She slumped in the arm chair, anger absolutely seething through her muscles. In an attempt to control herself, she gripped the arms of the chair fiercely, but it was to no avail. Maybe it was dim or egotistical of her, but Andi was simply positive that she could help Indiana, but he wouldn't even give her the chance.

She had to calm down. Nothing was going to get done while Andi continued to pout like a little child. Taking a deep breath, Andi rose from the chair and stretched her arms above her head. There had to be some way to get out of this room and follow Indiana and Sal. But how?

Andi crept as quietly as she could manage to the door and opened it to the smallest of cracks. Dr. Jones and Marcus sat in the main room, chatting and listening to the radio. There was no way she could get past them to the door without either noticing. She gently closed the door and started to steadily pace around her room, taking in her resources; There was the chair, of course… which was no help. Then there was an open closet with essentially nothing in it but spare towels and bed sheets, the queen-sized four-poster bed, a night stand, and one small window.

The window being the only promising thing in sight, Andi opened it and leaned out to see three floors of falling distance beneath her. Well, jumping would be no good, that was for sure. There were no nearby buildings, soft landings, ledges she could climb on, or even fire escapes on this side of the building. Andi mentally protested that lacking fire escapes had to be some sort of fire hazard, but it didn't do her any good. She sighed and plopped down on the surprisingly comfortable bed. "Think!" she said aloud to herself.

But after five more minutes of going over her ever worsening and increasingly dangerous ideas, Andi groaned in defeat and buried in her head in the Egyptian cotton of her bed sheets… her surprisingly sturdy and long sheets. Andi pulled her head up and gasped with the dawning of a realization. She stared at the material beneath her closely- and it suddenly looked more like a rope than a bed sheet.

Without wasting a single second, Andi ripped the 2 sheets off her bed and tied them together, knotting them multiple times, making them nearly twice as long. She had to secure her make-shift rope to something so it would hold her up. The only reasonable idea Andi could come up with was to tie it to the post of her bed that was closest to the window. She was sure she had read this escape tactic in a book and, well, now was her chance to see if it would actually work.

Perhaps it was the fact that Andi was 15 and short sighted or that she was simply too determined to let anything get in her way, but the thought that this endeavor of climbing down a building on bed sheets and breaking into a Nazi warehouse could leave her mangled and dead was pushed far away from her conscious mind. Andi grabbed the two remaining bed sheets from the closet, tied them onto her now lengthy rope, and tested how far it would reach down the side of the hotel. The sheets looked to end about five feet from the ground- a drop that Andi had no qualms about.

She opened her door and leaned out, looking deliberately sulky and tired. "I guess I'll just go to bed," she said.

"Would you like us to wake you when Junior and Sallah return?" Henry asked, his tone soft and understanding of the anger he'd seen so many times in Indiana's face when he'd been young. It made Andi feel horrible for lying to him. Not horrible enough to change her mind, though.

She pretended to contemplate it for a minute and then shook her head, forcing a smile for both Henry and Marcus. "No, I'm actually exhausted… maybe if we don't have an arrest warrant here we can see the pyramids tomorrow."

Marcus wholeheartedly agreed with the idea. He and Henry quickly became engaged in a discussion of the best tombs to visit and Marcus mentioned a relative he wanted everyone to meet. It was at this point that Andi felt it was safe to slip back in her room with a soft spoken "Goodnight." Once she was positive the door was securely shut, she made a beeline for the window where her sheets were ready to be repelled down.

It was quite a task to maneuver out the window and maintain a good grip on the sheets at the same time, but after a few minutes of thought, twisting, and turning, Andi found herself on the outside of a building, 3 stories up. She concentrated with all of her might on her grip and she used her feet as a brace against the wall.

Slowly at first, she edged downward. As she became more comfortable with the climb (and the lower she was to the ground), her pace quickened. With in a matter of minutes, Andi dropped softly to the ground below her and landed in a crouch. She stayed there only long enough to make sure no one had seen her escape. The 25 feet of sheets hanging down the side of the building were a bit conspicuous, but there was nothing Andi could do to fix that.

She took off at a trot, her frustration with Indiana and excitement at what she considered a well-thought escape seemed to channel into pure anger toward the Nazis. Andi's eyes were nearly blurred by tears as she ran and as emotions welled up in her throat. But she shoved them away and ran harder toward a danger she had never before experienced and could only try to imagine.

* * *

"Marcus," Henry said abruptly, interrupting the only English radio station they could find. "Do you think Andi is alright? She seemed quite upset."

Marcus stirred his coffee lazily and smiled. "Yes, yes. I'm sure she is. You know, she and Indiana have so much in common… I seem to recall an argument so similar to one you and Indiana had when he was about 14."

Henry chuckled with his friend upon recalling it. "Yes, except Junior snuck out afterward."

Both men continued laughing until Henry suddenly stopped, his brow furrowed. There were a few moments of silence before- "You don't think…?"

"She couldn't possibly," Marcus immediately said, although he did not look at all convinced.

Henry nodded, with a look a false confidence. Nonetheless, he only had time to blink before he briskly stood from his chair, walked in a way that failed to look casual to Andi's door and cleared his throat. "I'm sure she's sleeping," he said to Marcus, "but it wouldn't hurt to just-" Henry knocked gently on the door three times.

No answer. "Andi?" he called. Henry turned to Marcus, who's mouth hung slack as he shrugged. Henry knocked again before he swung the door open. He could not hold back a gasp as he saw the scene that lay before him. Marcus promptly joined his friend in the doorway. It was easy to see the sheets hanging out the window, anchored to the four-poster. More importantly, though, Andi was no where to be found.

Marcus shared an exasperated look with Henry and stared back into the room. "Oh dear."


End file.
